For 2010 there were 1,577 new active and re-treatment TB cases reported to the CTBRS, with a corresponding incidence rate of 4.6 per 100,000 population. This represents an unprecedented national low since collection of TB data began in Canada in 1924.Public Health Agency of Canada – Updates

World Health Day is celebrated each year to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 and to raise awareness about a public health priority.Public Health Agency of Canada – Updates

The Respiratory Virus Detection Surveillance System reports on respiratory viruses in Canada. Each week, selected laboratories report numbers of tests performed and numbers positive for Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Parainfluenza, and Adenovirus to the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases (CIRID), Public Health Agency of Canada.Public Health Agency of Canada – Updates

When it comes to caregiving assistance for aging parents, there are many questions that usually follow. What assistance is needed? Will it be few hours per day, a few hours per week, or is it full time 24 hour assistance that we need? For families wanting to proceed on their own, there are a number of considerations.

What type of care is required? Differences between caregivers can vary from those of a registered nurse, a registered practical nurse, a personal support worker or a companion. Understanding your specific level of need and what the caregiver is trained to do and is legally able to do (i.e. such as administering medications) which may vary from Province to Province or may be defined within the caregiver’s Scope of Practice (for RN’s and RPN’s) as well as cost factors, need to be understood and considered.

What are the needs of the family of aging parents? These needs can usually broken down to three basic needs: In-home respite care during the day only; care away from the home during working hours which may include participation in an adult day program; or 24-hour full time care over a weekend or longer.

Hire a home health care agency or hire privately? Understanding the advantages of each option is vital. Several considerations inform the decision making process including ensuring references, experience and qualifications are in place; insurance coverage; illness coverage for the caregiver in the event they should get sick; billing format and practices; confidentiality; are the services tax deductible; and record-keeping, among others.

What overnight care solutions are available? If overnight care is required for aging parents, should someone move into the home or should the loved one be moved into a facility. If eligible, the Provincial Ministry of Health may be able to provide respite care in a long term facility. If not available, short stays are often available at many retirement residences and daily costs and amount of personal care varies.

What is the cost of care? In some cases, local community agencies may be able to provide minimal assistance of a few hours per week of a Personal Support Worker at no cost. For Personal Support Workers hired through and agency, hourly costs vary and there may be a minimum time requirement.

What role does personality play? While professional care is a foremost consideration ensuring personality matches is also important in the selection process. Ensure more than once candidate is interviewed, speak to other families of aging parents and get references, and suggest an afternoon trial to assess engagement between caregiver, family and the senior in the home.

What information should your provide the caregiver? Facilitating a quick and effective transition into the caregiver responsibility can be made that much easier by providing personal information such as how the older person prefers to be addressed; food likes or dislikes; allergies; whether they prefer companionship at mealtime; activities they like or dislike; areas of required assistance; best and worst times of days and other like considerations.

How do you find a caregiver? If hiring through an agency, there are several home care agencies in most communities. They are listed in the phone book and seniors directories. You can also speak to a Geriatric Care Manager about reputable agencies in the community. They can also assist with screening candidates to ensure a good match is made.

If hiring privately, a referral from a friend or family is usually the preferred route. Note however that if someone’s previous experience has been looking after children, it is not the same as caring for an older adult.

Caring for an elderly relative by yourself can be physically and emotionally draining, even if you have the will to do it and the support of your entire family. Knowing when to get outside help and enlisting an established senior home care provider can help strengthen family ties and even result in a healthier relationship between you and your elderly loved one.

It is natural for most seniors to want to stay at home for as long as possible, and most relatives want the same thing for their elderly loved ones. Staying at home enables older individuals to maintain their freedom and independence within the comfort of familiar surroundings.

Over time, however, it is inevitable that elders and their families will have to make adjustments and eventually consider senior home care. Whether they are worried about a loved one’s safety, or are seeking the best way to handle health problems such as Alzheimer’s or dementia, the people concerned need to evaluate and decide on which services are right for their loved one.

When looking for home care providers for seniors, it is best to start small and ask for referrals from your family, your friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Ask your family physician whether he or she knows of any providers that you can trust. If your parent or grandparent does not need constant supervision, work with a Care Manager to see about daily check-ins or providing weekly gardening assistance.

As you consider many different options, you might come across different companies offering various types of services for seniors. If you find yourself overwhelmed or confused, consider caregiving providers.

Compared to other senior home care solutions, a caregiving provider will work closely with your loved one and even your family in order to understand your loved one’s current situation and specific needs. Your provider may also offer the services of a Care Manager who will assess the needs of your elderly loved one and develop a plan especially for him or her. After this, the caregiving provider will then carefully select an appropriate prescreened and qualified caregiver to offer care and support for your elderly relative.

When looking for the right in-home senior care provider for an elderly loved one, choose only trusted providers with licensed and bonded employees. Caregivers employed by reputable caregiving providers are given workers compensation coverage and ongoing education and training to help them meet industry requirements.

You may have heard of travel nursing before, but are still wondering, what exactly is a travel nurse? How do people get into this profession? What kinds of qualifications do they need? You may even be wondering if this is something you could see yourself doing.

Travel nursing agencies search for jobs and send information about open temporary positions to nurses who are looking for work that fits a given category. When a nurse decides he or she is interested in a certain position, the agency will submit all the relevant paperwork, and from there a contract may be drawn up, assuming the interview goes well. Travel nursing jobs may last a few weeks or go on for as long as a year. In some cases, the health care facility will even hire the nurse full time if both parties find this to be an agreeable situation.

Every agency and every job is different, but travel nurses can expect attractive compensation for being willing to temporarily relocate, so it’s definitely an option worth considering.

Nursing is a very promising profession. This career opens a lot of doors and opportunities to an individual who practices it. It a known fact that nursing is pretty much in demand and this case is true in different parts of the world. As more and more hospitals and medical facilities are established, the need for nurses also increases. If you actually look in to the ratio of nurses to patients in a hospital, you will in fact notice that nurses are outnumbered and thus, hospitals require more people in this profession in order to ensure that health care services are extended to patients who need it.

Indeed, the growing awareness around fitness and healthcare drive people to require the assistance of nursing professionals. There are a number of people who in fact need the affection and the support of a person who will be able to take good care of them and who will actually help them restore their health.

While it is true that there are certain attributes of nurses such as being affectionate or caring, it is also required that nurses poses the education and equal experience for them to be able to carry out their job effectively. What this then emphasizes is the fact that formal education and training makes the nurse prepared and ready to take on situations or circumstances which they will be facing in their work. These elements too are required to ensure that they are extending extra carefulness that would easily translate to proper treatment and even saving the life of a patient.